semainier (tall narrow chest)
Chest of drawers. Until the mid-19th century, the standard chest had either four long, or three long and two short drawers. Rarely were there any exceptions to this rule. A chest with three drawers, or a series of small upper drawers, purporting to be Georgian, will probably have been converted from a chest-on-chest or tallboy. It is true that the 18th century commode often contain two long deep drawers, but this was a much grander and more decorative piece altogether, intended for drawing rooms, not bedrooms, and in any case was usually made to stand on legs. The standard chest of drawers continued to be made throughout the 19th and early 20th centuries (some Edwardian pine chests even had bracket feet), but variations were introduced during the mid-Victorian period, with some chests having seven or more drawers usually a deep hat drawer and smaller glove compartments. Chests with barley-sugar twist or split bobbin-turned supports date from the mid-19th century.
4 item(s) found:
A French 18th century Louis XVI ormolu-mounted kingwood, tulipwood and amaranth semainier, the shaped stepped grey marble top above seven drawers, the canted angles surmounted by a foliate mount, with panelled sides, on bracket feet. Width 63 cm.…
A French 18th century transitional ormolu-mounted walnut semainier, by Pierre Garnier, Paris, surmounted by a shaped stepped marble top above seven drawers each with a foliate cast escutcheon, on short cabriole legs, stamped under the marble P.Garnier.…
A French 18th century Louis XVI ormolu and brass-mounted mahogany semainier, the rectangular white marble top with pierced three-quarter gallery surround, above seven drawers, with fluted angles, on tapering feet and small sabots. Width 80 cm.…
Semainier, or tall chest of seven drawers with fruitwood inlays, a marble top and bronze handles